


Begin Again

by commandercrouton



Series: KogKag One-Shots/Drabbles [1]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, But the ending is open ended, Comfort, F/M, Forehead Kisses, HEA to me, Hugs from Behind, Hurt/Comfort, KogKag - Freeform, Meeting Again, Mild Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Post-Canon, Prompt Fill, Sparks Fly in July
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:27:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25537309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commandercrouton/pseuds/commandercrouton
Summary: Kouga meets Kagome in the modern era after thinking she was long gone after the events of Naraku
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/Kouga
Series: KogKag One-Shots/Drabbles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1850422
Comments: 3
Kudos: 70
Collections: Sparks Fly in July





	Begin Again

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I meant to have this up earlier, but I have been dealing with issues IRL that had me in a rough headspace. This is for week two and three of Sparks Fly in July! We have hugs from behind and first kiss (I am totally counting forehead kisses, don't @ me haha)
> 
> The ending is ambiguous but they obviously fell in love and made it happy. This is more emotional than my other stuff, probably due to my headspace and listening to Folklore by Taylor Swift.
> 
> I hope you enjoy, and if you do please leave a kudos or a comment!

Being a youkai was tough in today’s world. Kouga’s dwindling pack had to do what they could to survive and blend in, taking odd jobs and hiring lawyers with youkai blood to help cover up their identity. Part of the problem was making a name for one’s self in a time where every moment could be recorded for all to see online. They had to keep their pack hidden, always sure to disappear for a couple of generations, before slowly making their way back to their home, which was now the bustling city of Tokyo. 

Their caves have long been destroyed, caved in or torn apart by earthquakes, but the wolves always felt a sense of ease the minute they came back—just by being there it was a balm to the scars of the past, a silent homage to what once was.    
  


Part of setting up their new life was establishing a job, one that was easy enough to blend in and bring home money enough for the pack. Kouga had a variety of businesses, but for this venture, he decided to reopen his construction business. 

And so the months passed, booking clients, building shelves, laying the flooring down, and even building a community outside the city. His construction company was quickly gaining popularity, and he knew he needed to keep it on the lower end if they were going to stay here longer than a few years. It won’t take long before the humans notice the lack of wrinkles or gray hair. 

“Why are we taking this job?” GInta asked, looking at the contract with a price that was way below their original costs.

“We need one that is going to take up most of our time so people can forget about us,” Kouga pointed out. “We are already drawing too much attention. If this keeps up, it won’t be long before we have to move again.”

The rest of the pack said nothing as they loaded up the supplies onto the beds of the trucks they owned. They all knew what it was like to be on the run. They would do what they had to in order to stay. 

“Where is this place anyway?” Hakkaku asked, slipping into the driver’s side. He was the one who loved driving the most. Kouga preferred to run, but he couldn’t do that in the city. 

“Some temple. The roof needs to be redone. We got to go slow, though.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

It wasn’t until the pack hopped out of the trucks did they realize there was something familiar about the temple. A faint scent of plums filled the air, and Kouga was instantly transported back to his younger self, hopelessly in love with a girl who was brave and beautiful. Thinking about her hurt less over time, but there was still a small pang in his heart when he realized his memories of her were fading. 

“Hey boss, isn’t that the . . . ” Ginta trailed off, staring at a shack that was emitting a strange energy.

Drawn to the shack, Kouga walked ahead, not even concerned with what the owners would say when they see his team out there. With every step, the scent of plums grew stronger, and he was realizing just why a particular tree looked familiar.

Opening the door, he looked down and saw it. “The Bone-Eaters Well,” he whispered. 

“Can I help you?”

He froze. There was no other word for it. It was impossible. He had forgotten her voice, but hearing the question echo throughout the empty room brought everything rushing back. His heartbeat within his chest, begging to escape from the ghost of a long-forgotten memory. Hesitantly, he turned around. 

The woman stood proud and commanding. A few years older than the last time he saw her. It couldn’t be. She disappeared. She left. Yet here she was standing in front of him, just as alive as he was. 

“Kagome,” he whispered. 

\-------

The pack who was present during the war with the Birds of Prey was eager to see her again. Ginta and Hakkaku made it a point to talk her ear off whenever they got a chance. Kouga, however, couldn’t bring himself to talk to her. 

He spent the last few hundred years thinking she had passed away, mourning, and moving on. Yet here she stood, and it was as if he was a stubborn seventeen-year-old boy again. There was no way he could put his heart at risk. Not again. 

In response, he stayed away—always there in the corner of her eyesight, but never close enough to talk. 

Kagome seemed to sense the change in him, and surprisingly, she let him be. This Kagome changed as well. She was no longer the young starry-eyed girl, here stood a woman who understood that things can’t go back to the way they were. 

Together, they perfected the art of avoiding one another, only acknowledging each other when forced. It wasn’t lost on the pack, but any word mentioned to Kouga caused a glare so cold they refused to bring it up again. 

That’s how it went until the storm came. 

\------

“Boss, there is a storm coming in. Can ya smell it?’

Kouga looked up mid-swing, placing the hammer down on the roof. Taking a deep inhale, he filled his lungs as the scent of petrichor and ozone filled the fair. It was distant, but coming nonetheless. “Let’s pack up, and head out for the day. We can’t be up here when it hits.”

The pack instantly stopped, patching the roof with a tarp that was nailed down to protect any cracks or crevice. Looking quickly around, he saw no one looking and he deftly jumped off the roof.

He flexed his legs when he landed, his muscles eager to exert themselves at the small taste of freedom. 

“I thought you were trying to stay hidden.”

“Figured it was best to speed this up,” he replied, looking at Kagome as she leaned against the doorframe. “You got here quick.”

“I sensed you.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “Your powers still work?”

A faint blush spread across her cheeks, and oh, he forgot how lovely she looked with the splash of color. Further proof she was alive. “Not as well as they used to. Can’t exactly practice here, but you . . . you're different. I never had any trouble sensing you. It’s how I knew you were in the Bone-Eaters Well.”

The thought shouldn’t please him. It shouldn’t ignite the small flame he had hidden away all those years ago. It shouldn’t make his heart stutter and his hands tremble. Except it does. It does everything and more. He was going to make a snarky comment, some witty response to get her to smile at him. What came out instead was, “What the hell happened to you, Kagome?”

Her lips pursed. “It’s a long story. I’m surprised the pack didn’t try to tell you.”

“I didn’t want to hear it.”

“Oh.” Her voice was meek, and the feeling of guilt rapidly spread throughout his chest. 

“It’s just . . .” he stopped, rubbing a hand along his neck as he tried to find the right words to explain just how lost he was without her. “I just came down to say a storm is coming, and we will probably be gone for a couple of days.”

Kagome looked up at the sunny sky with confusion on her face. “It doesn’t look like—” she stopped when she noticed Kouga meaningfully tap his nose. “Right, demon nose. Definitely did not miss that.”

Lips part but his tongue is tied and he can’t answer her, just smile weakly at her before he turns around and makes his way back to his team to help. 

“Wait,” Kagome called out after him.

It isn’t an order, but it might as well be. Even now, he can never refuse her. “Yes?”

“I think we should talk.” Her voice was tentative and . . . hopeful?

“About?”

“The past, the future, whatever you want to call it. We need to talk about it.”

The urge to say no was swelling within him, sitting heavy on the tip of his tongue as he already formulates some type of escape, but his heart betrays him, and his lips end up saying, “Okay.”

\--------

Two days later, and the storms showed no sign of letting up. Kouga was sitting on his couch, flipping through the shows on this new streaming app his pack convinced him to buy. He almost settled on a show, but loud knocks against his front door made him furrow his eyebrows. Kouga wasn’t expecting company, and the storms dampened his sense of smell. Standing, he walked to the door, posed for an attack.

Flinging it open, his teeth bared in a warning growl before his eyes were able to process what was standing before him. Kagome stood under the small awning, clothes soaked to the bone. His jaw dropped and he quickly grabbed her, pulling her inside. 

“Kagome, what are you doing here?” he asked, anger lacing his tone. 

“I couldn’t wait,” she replied, stripping off her sweatshirt. Her shirt underneath stuck to the sweatshirt before, giving him a glimpse of the beautiful skin on her stomach, and she quickly fixed it. The sweatshirt was thrown in the sink, but it did nothing to help her.

Taking a deep breath, he pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. “Kagome, you shouldn’t be out in this weather. You could have gotten hurt.”

“I’ve been through worse,” she replied, slipping off her shoes. “Mind if I shower. I don’t want to get sick.”

Kouga clenched his jaw, biting back the retort that she wouldn’t  _ need _ to shower if she had just waited until he was back at work. Instead, he quickly led her to his bathroom. Silence surrounded them as he pointed to various items she would need, shoved a pair of his own clothes in her hand, and he said a quiet thanks he lived alone in a small house away from the pack—it was better to not draw attention to the pack while they were establishing themselves. 

Leaving her to take care of business, he busied himself making them tea. Anything to keep busy as his body reacted to the fact Kagome was here, in his apartment, naked, just a room away. His heart pounded against his rib cage and his hands shook as he poured the boiling water on the tea bags. 

Blue eyes stared at the swirling steam rising from the mugs, his mind lost in thought. Kouga knew he should have been relieved to see her alive and well, but it was akin to seeing someone come back from the dead. He resigned himself to the fact he would never lay eyes on her again, and to have her just be a few years older than the last time he saw her? It made no sense. What did she do to get here? What did she give up to be alone in this time period away from all her friends? 

He didn’t understand it. 

“Kouga?” 

Kagome’s voice broke through his thoughts and he glanced up, seeing Kagome look at him with a worried expression on her face. Her skin was flushed and pink from the hot shower, and his clothes seemed a tad too big on her body. The sight was so domestic, and his heart ached for a life that could have been.

Clearing his throat, he grasped the two mugs and walked to the living room while explaining, “I made tea.”

“I can see that,” she replied as she followed him to the living room. 

“Here.” He thrusted one of the mugs to her, and she gingerly took it from his, careful to avoid touching him. The action caused a rift in him, pleased she was careful to respect his boundaries but upset he hadn’t had the pleasure to feel her soft skin in over five hundred years. 

Kagome tucked her knees underneath her as she got comfortable on his couch, lips pursing as she gently blew on the mug. Kouga sat silently as he patiently drank his tea. This conversation wasn’t up to him, and he had no control over what she wanted to say, so he sat and waited.

He pointedly ignored the way she bit her lip, chewing on words she wasn’t sure were the rights one to say. 

“I guess . . .” she began, “I should start off by saying what I’m about to tell you doesn’t make sense and I can’t explain it, but I can tell you it’s true. You can smell if I’m lying, right?”

He nodded.

And so she began, telling the story of a teenage girl discovering a time traveling well, a jewel hidden within her, magical powers, learning how she fit in a story that already happened. Sometimes he would make an appearance, and he cringed at her version of events, embarrassed at his younger self. She spoke of the final battle between her friends and Naraku, how when she wished on the jewel to defeat him, it took her away and the well never worked again. She never had a chance to say goodbye, to any of them. 

There were times during the story she laughed, smiling brightly in a way that disarmed him from the hesitant feelings that rose in him. By the end of that story though, silent tears were streaming down her face. 

“I haven’t had to tell the full story in so long,” she breathed, wiping the tears away. “I’m sorry, it just brought out a ton of feelings.” She gave him a watery smile as more tears fell. “That’s it. I don’t know what happened to them. The well hasn’t worked since then. I stayed with my family, graduated high school, went to college, and came back home. It’s been a few years. Some nights I lay awake at night wondering if I dreamed the whole thing, and I trace the scars on my stomach, just to confirm it was real.”

Kouga’s fingers itched to comfort her, but he didn’t know if it would be welcome. Kagome was clearly hurting, and he had to do something, he just didn’t know what. 

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” she snapped as her fingers continued to clean her face of tears. 

He continued to sit frozen, thoughts racing as he tried to organize and comprehend what she told him. It was a lot to take in, and he could only imagine what Kagome was feeling, having actually lived it. Kagome stood, anger and frustration rolling off of her in waves tainting her usually happy scent. He watched helplessly as she stood in front of the window, looking outside at the dark clouds as the rain pelted the windows.

Kouga felt the surge of annoyance at knowing how to handle the situation. He knew how his younger self would handle the situation—he would wrap her in his arms while softly speaking reassurances in her ear, or offer to destroy the enemy who made her feel this way. But time has taught him not all enemies can be dealt with physically, especially when the enemy was her own mind and memories. 

Things were so much easier then. Struggling only a moment more, he quickly made his way to her, wrapping her safely in his arms from behind. Her back pressed against his chest and he was sure she could feel the hammering of his heart against his ribs. Instead of pushing him away, admonishing him for invading her personal space, she turned around, pressing her blotchy face into his shirt, staining it with tears. 

Stroking her hair, he soothed her as his claws gently massaged her scalp. “It’s alright Kagome, I’m here. I won’t go anywhere, I promise.” 

Her cries slowly subdued, turning into sniffles as she held onto him tightly. 

“I’m proof it was real. It was real.” Unable to tamper down the urges with the woman he loved back in his arms after centuries apart, he placed a soft kiss on the temple of her forehead and was gifted with the scent of her calming down. 

“Will you help me find out what happened to them?” Her voice was muffled and so small, hesitant, as if she didn’t know he would do anything to help ease the fears on her mind. 

“Anything. You’re not alone anymore Kagome. You have me and the pack. We will do anything we can.”

The smile she gifted him caused something to grow inside that he hadn’t felt in a long while. 

Hope. 

  
  
  



End file.
